I would like to introduce you to a new intern/contributor, my fellow Penangite Ho Siew Loon. Siew Loon is introduced through a mutual friend and is passionate about preserving and sharing the beautiful Nyonya cuisine; she is also a fantastic Nyonya kuih maker and an experienced baker (she makes a mean layer cake!)—an area I am not particularly strong at. Please welcome Siew Loon to Nyonya Food and kindly leave her your warm comments! Thanks.
Thank you Rasa Malaysia for giving me the opportunity to be a guest writer on this wonderful blog.
Growing up in Penang where there is a strong Nyonya presence till today, nyonya kuih is a sweet delicacy that would always have a special place in my heart. It comes in different shapes, textures and colors. One of my favorite is the kuih kosui…(get kuih kosui recipe after the jump)
Kuih kosui is a saucer shaped rice cake flavored with pandan (screwpine leaves) juice. A lot of pandan is used to bring out the aroma of this kuih. A good kuih kosui is rich in pandan aroma and have a springy and soft texture. It is best eaten with freshly grated coconut.
Kuih Kosui (Pandan Flavoured Rice Cakes)
Ingredients:
Syrup
16 oz water
10 oz sugar
Pandan juice
12-15 pandan leaves
21 oz water
1 tbsp alkaline water (lye water)
Batter
6 oz rice flour
2 oz tapioca flour
Method:
- To make the syrup, melt the sugar in water over low fire until sugar dissolves . Set aside to cool.
- Cut pandan leaves into small peices. Combine pandan leaves and water in an electric blender. Blend for 1-2 minutes. Strain the pandan juice through a fine sieve. Add alkaline water into pandan juice. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add rice flour and tapioca flour. Slowly pour in the pandan juice mixture while stirring it consistently till well blended. Add in syrup.
- Cook flour mixture on low fire till slightly thickened. Remove from fire and pour into little teacups.Steam on high fire for 15 minutes. Take the kuih out immediately.
- Leave to cool for at least 6 hrs before removing the kuih from the little teacups.
- Serve with fresh grated coconut.
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow this looks absolutely delcious. The more I get invovled within the bloggin community and learning about these absolutely unique treats/recipes it just further intriguges me about food. Thanks for sharing this!
My pleasure!
This looks so yummy…! It makes me miss those varieties of kuih from South East Asia…!
Is there another type of kuih kosui that’s brown in colour too? Grandma used to make that a lot and the presence of pandan was rather distinct too though it’s brown in colour….I thought this look like kuih lompang or are they the same thing? Cheers!
Hi! Yes, there is the brown color version as well which is made of brown sugar. Pandan leaves are added when making the syrup to give the sweet aroma. Kuih lompang is the same as kuih kosui.
Your kuih kosui looks wonderful! I love anything with pandan flavor. :) I wonder if there’s anything that can replace the alkaline water?
Hi Mandy, you can omit the alkaline water. It is just that you will not be able to get the shining and striking green color. You can add 1Tbsp of tapioca flour in order to enhance the springy texture as without alkaline water it won’t be so springy.
Such an elegant kuih. The little cup shape is so lovely and the recipe seems simple and straightforward. I’ll be sure to try these.
Enjoy….
In the Philipines, we call it kuchinta; best with fresh greated coconut with little sugar.
Delicious looking kuih kosui. Never able to make it as nice as yours. Ends up buying from a stall which i regularly patronize in Penang. Its inside the market (stall selling eggs..hahaha) opposite Super Tanker Food Center in penang. Looks exactly like yours….
Can I use tapioca starch instead of tapioca flour for the kuih kosui recipe?
Yes. Tapioca flour is the same as tapioca starch.
Can someone tell me if I can use pandan extract instead of the leaves and what would the quantity be? I live in Melbourne and cannot find pandan leaves but I found a tiny little bottle of extract.
I’d love to try anything pandan but I don’t know how to use this little bottle of green gold!!
Help!
You can use 2 tsp of pandan extract instead of pandan juice but the taste and color would be slightly different.
Interesting little green wonders you have there! I’m a bigger fan of the gula melaka brown variety. I think this is a novel option that’s on my to-try list!
Is this the Penang version?
Yum, yum yum, not a great cook, but love all these nonya dishes. Hey, all you ladies out there – better learn from your mums & grandmas b4 it’s too late. I never learnt anything from my mum, and it’s too late now. All I can do is drool over any sites that have nonya dishes, how sad. I buy from the nonya stalls when I am home for holidays. Looks delicious!
Hello there, thank you for this great recipe! Looks simple enough :)
What is the brand of alkaline/lye you are using? Can I substitute this with baking soda? Sorry for the silly questions, I’m a newbie at this.
The brand that is from Wan Cheong Kee & Co but any brand is fine. Happy trying!
Can you substitute Pandan Leaves with Pandan flavoring? Will it turn out green? or can food coloring be used?
Can , but the color and taste will not be as nice. Just add 2tsp of pandan essence to the water. Try to use pandan leaves if you can.
I love how you present this clean and simple. This is definitely in my “to try list.”
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Thanks, Lina.
Jennifer, you can get pandan leaves at Footscray. I used to live in Melbourne and i used to buy them and extract the juice and freeze it for when I need it.
Can you please also add measurement in milimeter (ml) , liter (l), kilograms (kg), grams (g). I have never use oz before, really want to try out your recipe, hoping you will always add this measurement too. Thanks.
You can use the Converter “CULIVERTER” tool on the right sidebar. It can convert all the measurement for you.
Hi
Your picture looks so tempting but am not sure how to get the lye water. If possible could you show a picture of this brand of lye water you mentioned. What kind of mould did you use? My apologies and thanks in advance, am a new cook at this.
Where are you residing? If you are in Asia, you can get it from any sundry or grocery shop. If you are in other parts of of the world, you can get it in Chinatown shops or Vietnamese shops.
Where can I find Pandan leaves in the United States? I live in CA.
You can get them at Asian stores at the frozen food section.
Help, If anyone know of text book published in Malaysia for “home sciences” (in English)
or science rumah tangga (in Malay) with many wonderful Malaysian recipe??? I used the text book in high school in the 70’s. Please tell me where to order or if you post me one, I would gladly cover your expenses. My favourite ones are from Form 1. These has lots of local kuih muih. I read Malays, Chinese, and French.
Hi Siew Loon,
Another little gem! Will go and look for the tiny bowls to try out this recipe.
Do you happen to have Kuih Talam recipe as well? I love the harmony of the 2 layers. My favourite was from the Nyonya Kueh stall in a SS2 coffee shop : )
How many teacups do you need?
Thanks.
Superfine flour is cake flour which is a low protein all purpose flour. It helps to turn out a whiter bun that is also softer and has a fine texture. You can substitute with all purpose flour.
About 35. Depends on the size of your teacups.
Is there any change of the layer cake recipe. I am glad to find yr recipe. It is a gem for oversea. Making for my grandchildren who is NZ. Many thanks. lg